Now in its thirteenth year, the newly extended 3m 1f 125y Betfair Chase is the first Grade One Chase of the season and the starting point for some of the top staying chasers in training.
The race now has the added incentive of being the first leg of the Jockey Club’s ‘Chase Triple Crown’ £1-million bonus.
The Betfair Chase has produced some superb finishes over the years. Few will forget the thrilling climax to the 2009 race, when a nose separated Kauto Star and Imperial Commander. Some people still cannot believe that latter did not get the verdict to this day.
Infused in many memories is the reception given to Kauto Star when he recorded a fourth Betfair Chase victory in 2011 with scenes of Paul Nicholls pumping the air in the paddock...
Here are some trends and statistics based on the last ten renewals of the race followed by a runner-by-runner summary and conclusion.
Age (winners-placed-run)
6-y-o: 1-1-3
7-y-o: 2-4-15
8-y-o: 1-3-22
9-y-o: 3-3-17
10-y-o: 2-1-5
11-y-o+: 1-0-4
As you can see there has been a fair spread of wins across the age groups so it is very difficult to rule something out for being too young/too old.
Breeding
Irish Bred: 2-4-22
British Bred: 2-0-17
French Bred: 6-8-27
It appears being a French bred gives you a distinct advantage in recent years. Bristol De Mai and Traffic Fluide are both French breds this year.
Trainer record
Colin Tizzard has saddled Cue Card to win this in 2013, 2015 & 2016.
The Paul Nicholls yard has won the prize in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 & 2014. He unfortunately has no representative this year.
Starting Price
Nine of the last ten winners have been priced 9/1 or under. Only the slightly fortuitous Snoopy Loopy has bucked that trend.
Other key pointers
- Seven winners finished in the first three on their preceding start.
- Six winners had contested the race before.
- Eight winners had won a Grade One Chase.
- Four winners had won the Gold Cup.
- Seven winners had had a prep run.
Our guide to the runners:
Bristol De Mai
The conditions will be ideal for Nigel Twiston-Davies’ grey on Saturday afternoon after the Merseyside track saw some rainfall almost every single day this week.
The six-year-old put up the best performance of his career when he won the Charlie Hall Chase from stable companion Blacklion at Wetherby last month on his seasonal return.
As expected, Sizing John was the sole absentee from the final field when six were confirmed at Thursday's declaration stage, which made his prospects of landing the first prize even stronger.
Bristol De Mai has never finished out of the frame on going described as heavy or soft in nine starts and has won five times on that type of ground.
The 22-length winner of last season’s Peter Marsh Chase will be a tough nut to crack on a course he clearly thrives at.
Cue Card
Colin Tizzard’s veteran chaser is already a three-time winner of this race and he will be hoping to emulate the great Kauto Star by winning it for a fourth time.
Cue Card unseated Paddy Brennan in the Charlie Hall, so Colin Tizzard’s eleven-year-old will be partnered by Harry Cobden for the first time.
Connections are hoping that Cobden can reignite Cue Card’s fortunes following his second fall in his last three starts and some people see it as quite a gamble to take.
Brennan’s mixed record on Cue Card has been five Grade One wins and amongst those a total of three falls.
Cue Card clearly has plenty of stamina and on paper the race looks like being a heavyweight battle between himself and Bristol De Mai, slogging it out up the home straight. But races aren’t won on paper are they?
Outlander
In the absence of the Gold Cup winner Sizing John, the only Irish entry is Gordon Elliott’s Outlander, who bounced back to form last time out by scooping the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal.
The Gigginstown House Stud-owned nine-year-old had disappointed on his previous three starts, including in last season's Cheltenham Gold Cup, but Gordon Elliot is likely to have him primed for this task, especially with the lure of a £1million bonus being up for grabs.
The teenage sensation Jack Kennedy gets the leg up and you can expect him to be sitting just off the pace ,hoping to pick up the pieces late on in the day.
Shantou Flyer
Shantou Flyer made his first start for trainer Richard Hobson in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby where he came last of the five finishers.
A Grade Three handicap chase at Cheltenham on New Year's Day and a runner-up spot to Cue Card in the Ascot Chase in February are some possible glimmers of hope connections can cling onto in this contest.
It would take a leap of faith to back this one but that’s what they said about Snoopy Loopy back in 2008.
Tea for Two
The Nick Williams-trained eight-year-old rounded off last season with a Grade One triumph at Aintree, seeing off Cue Card by a neck in the Betway Bowl under Lizzie Kelly.
He made his seasonal reappearance back at Aintree in the Old Roan Chase earlier in the month, but trailed home a well-beaten ninth, leaving his connections scratching their heads.
Tea For Two does have good form on soft to heavy going but that last run does not exactly inspire confidence going into this.
Traffic Fluide
Traffic Fluide is set to step up trip to three miles and back up to Grade One level on Saturday but his trainer Gary Moore believes the going will make the race somewhat of a leveller.
He shaped well on his first run of this season, finishing fourth behind Smad Place in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree and takes up his engagement in this race rather than going to Ascot.
Is that a tip in itself?
Conclusion
It is very hard to get away from the top two in the market and Cue Card and Bristol De Mai are pretty much expected to finish one-two on the day, but in which order it is difficult to say.
It may be worth chancing putting Traffic Fluide into a combination forecast just in case one of the principles fails to make their mark.
